Courtesy of North Carolina A&T Athletics
AST GREENSBORO — The NC A&T women’s track and field program swept the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) track awards in 2023. Graduate sprinter Jada Griffin earned CAA women’s track indoor athlete of the year in March, and on Wednesday, the CAA named graduate hurdler Paula Salmon its CAA women’s outdoor track athlete of the year.
The award culminates what was a superb career for Salmon, making her perhaps the best 100-meter hurdler in program history. She is unquestionably the most decorated. She earned first-team All-America honors three weeks ago in the 100H at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas, by finishing eighth in 12.92.
The award culminates what was a superb career for Salmon, making her perhaps the best 100-meter hurdler in program history. She is unquestionably the most decorated. She earned first-team All-America honors three weeks ago in the 100H at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas, by finishing eighth in 12.92.
It made her the first NC A&T women’s athlete to earn two first-team All-America honors in the 100H after she finished fourth in 2022. She is also the only Aggie to have three All-America accolades in the event after she earned second-team recognition in 2021.
In advancing to NCAA nationals, Salmon became only the second CAA woman in conference history to qualify for nationals in the 100H. She is the first in conference history to qualify for the final. In her first and only season competing in the CAA, she broke the 100H conference record, becoming the first woman to run under 13 seconds in CAA history with a wind-legal 12.91.
Salmon ran under 13 seconds in all four of her NCAA postseason races, including twice at the NCAA East Preliminary Round and twice at NCAA nationals. In addition, Salmon broke the CAA outdoor championship meet record by winning the conference event title in 13.25. Salmon also helped A&T’s 4×100-meter relay team finish second at the CAA outdoor championships (45.12). Salmon holds the school record in the 60H (12.63).
“It surprised me at first because I didn’t think I had an athlete of the year type season,” said Salmon. “But I had to realize the CAA is a different platform than NCAA. From an NCAA standard, I don’t think my season was that good because my goal for the past two years has been to win a national title.
But in the eyes of the CAA, I broke the (100H) record three times, I was a regional qualifier and a national qualifier, and I scored points at an NCAA national meet. I wanted bigger and better than the CAA, but it’s great to represent the CAA as a champion. It is great to represent the CAA at nationals, and the award means a lot because now I have set the pace for the next CAA hurdler to beat my records and go faster and beyond my talents.”
Salmon’s talents have meant a lot to NC A&T. Salmon won 100H titles in the CAA and the Big South, and her highest finish in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) was second in 2021. In addition to being a three-time outdoor All-America in the 100H, she is a two-time indoor All-America in the 60H. She also has a MEAC indoor title in the high jump.